<html><head></head><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:13px"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_18443" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_18442"></span>Am in accord with all the previous reflections and the need to share them. Our history together as a dynamic is overflowing with collective effulgent events that continue to the present. As one of the churches I have attended proclaims, "Let us grow our spirit together."</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_18783" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_18784" dir="ltr">The passing of the baton, the torch and the cross have become corporate symbols of our commitment to the task which is no less than forging History and rebuilding the Earth.</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_19025" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_19026" dir="ltr">May we continue to demonstrate the interconnectedness of all Beings as People related to The Source, The New Reality and the Course of Empathetic Energy to recreate the Will of our Creator with disciplined fortitude.</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21205" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21194" dir="ltr">"We must not die the dead cry out within, 'Finish our Work, finish our work'" There is more than enough for a lifetime to carry forward into the future. Let our mindfulness and singleness of purpose allow us to rest in faithfulness to the task with hearts emblazoned with constant vigilance to the Call and our Response to actualize our sacred duty with honor, humility and compassion.</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21408" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21409" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21533" dir="ltr">Peace, Hope and Joy,</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21682" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21582" dir="ltr">Dawn</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_23057" dir="ltr">P.S. I started my journey of re-entry into the fold by rereading Journey to the East. I think it is something of a talisman to reigniting our passion for the Vision and Missional Engagement.</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21583" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21410" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21411" dir="ltr">".Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Source is [amidst us]."</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_22069" dir="ltr">-Philippians 4:4-5</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_22023" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21452" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21451" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21195" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21196" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21197" dir="ltr"><font id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21005" size="2">O</font><font id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21005" face="Arial" size="2">n Saturday, July 1, 2017 1:05 AM, Isobel Bishop via OE <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:<br></font></div><div class="qtdSeparateBR"><br><br></div><div class="yahoo_quoted" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21004" style="display: block;"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21003" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_21002" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <br><br> <div class="y_msg_container" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_23156"><div id="yiv2623147561"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_23155"><div>Hello John,</div><div>Yes your questions are excellent and deserve further pondering and discussion.</div><div>I saved your note to return and have a further Refection.</div><div>Thankyou for raising these profound points..</div><div>In love and peace,</div><div>Isobel Bishop <br clear="none"><br clear="none">Sent from my iPhone</div><div class="yiv2623147561yqt7871927956" id="yiv2623147561yqt34573"><div><br clear="none">On 1 Jul 2017, at 5:52 am, Joyce Sloan via OE <<a href="mailto:oe@lists.wedgeblade.net" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:oe@lists.wedgeblade.net">oe@lists.wedgeblade.net</a>> wrote:<br clear="none"><br clear="none"></div><blockquote id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_23154" type="cite"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_23153"><div>Thanks for this, John. I totally agree and long for ways to sustain ourselves in our scattered state.<div><br clear="none"></div><div>Joyce</div></div><div class="yiv2623147561gmail_extra" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_23152"><br clear="none"><div class="yiv2623147561gmail_quote" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_23151">On Jun 14, 2017 4:57 PM, "John Epps via OE" <<a href="mailto:oe@lists.wedgeblade.net" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:oe@lists.wedgeblade.net">oe@lists.wedgeblade.net</a>> wrote:<br clear="none"><blockquote class="yiv2623147561gmail_quote" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498966087546_23150" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;"><div dir="ltr"><div class="yiv2623147561MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;">It has long been claimed that at
the Oaxtapec gathering, the Order was called out of being. That assertion has
long troubled me, and it seems time to clear the air.<br clear="none"><br clear="none"><span></span></div>
<div class="yiv2623147561MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;">IMHO, the statement is both
sociologically and theologically inaccurate. A more accurate formulation of
what happened in Mexico was that we went from a structured to a dispersed form.
Something was definitely dissolved at Oaxtapec, but it was not the Order, only
a particular form of the Order.<br clear="none"><br clear="none"><span></span></div>
<div class="yiv2623147561MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;">On the sociological side, there
is still a lively “we” that once went under the name “Order Ecumenical.” This list-serve and the archives workshops represent some manifestations, but more
significant are the personal collegial relationships that persist despite great
demographic, cultural, and geographic differences. “We” continue to communicate
and to celebrate the life milestones of each other. <br clear="none"><br clear="none"><span></span></div>
<div class="yiv2623147561MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;">“We” continue to engage in the
mission of catalyzing and caring for those who care – in multiple sectors and
with far greater impact than a single organization could have managed. Some
examples include the ToP Network, the IAF, ICA community development work in
India, Nepal, Australia, and South America, and environmental preservation
efforts in the USA. “We” have published a good number of books making insights
available to a wide audience. Colleagues could fill out the list. <br clear="none"><br clear="none"><span></span></div>
<div class="yiv2623147561MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;">Theologically, the Order is a
historical dynamic that we’ve been privileged to participate in. It is not
something we can disband, even if we wanted to. Just as Niebuhr described the
Church as the “sensitive and responsive ones…” that takes many forms, so also
is the Order composed of those awakened and catalytic ones who care for those
who care. The notion that some of us could dissolve that dynamic confuses the
form from the content (the baby from the bathwater to use a less abstract
metaphor). I’ve come (reluctantly) to see that we were led to dissolve a
particular structure so that the historical dynamic might continue in an
enhanced fashion. <br clear="none"><br clear="none"><span></span></div>
<div class="yiv2623147561MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;">Why does this matter? Is it
simply a verbal difference having little to do with anything except the
neurosis of an old theologian? <br clear="none"><br clear="none"><span></span></div>
<div class="yiv2623147561MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;">It matters because thinking that
there is no longer an Order prevents us from wrestling with pertinent
questions: How can we remain in touch with the Profound Mystery? How can we
continue to access our common insights? What rites and celebrations are
appropriate to a dispersed body? How can we account to each other and support
each other? How can we stay on the religious and secular edge? What (if any)
forms are appropriate for the global and diverse participants in this
historical dynamic? In a time when hatred and fear of differences is so rampant,
what new experiments might make a difference? What might we learn from <u>Journey
to the East</u>?<br clear="none"><br clear="none"><span></span></div>
<div class="yiv2623147561MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;">Collegial comments,
clarifications, corrections, and additions are most welcome.<span></span></div><div class="yiv2623147561MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;"><br clear="none"></div><div class="yiv2623147561MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;">Thanks for reading this.</div><div class="yiv2623147561MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;">John Epps</div></div>
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